Tag: truck blind spots

Trucking blind spots . Transport for NSW have done a great job of making an incisive ad, which gets its point over in a smart and believable way. The vast majority of car drivers not only know nothing about the issues around things like trucking blind spots and visibility in a truck. Many car drivers sit cocooned in their own car, with safety systems turned on and do what they want to do and are surprised when other drivers get upset.

Unfortunately, many drivers tune out the trucks moving around them. They assume the truck driver will be able to cope with their actions and their car will remain untouched. However, if the inevitable happens and the truck and car do collide, the damage and risk to life is much more severe than if two cars were involved.

There is also an automatic assumption from everyone outside the trucking community, the truck must be to blame. The media describe any accident which involves a truck, in any way at all, as a ‘truck accident’, assuming guilt from the get-go.

Truck drivers have a certain limitations when it comes to accelerating and slowing down. Heavy vehicles need more room to make turns and their blind spots are much larger than cars. When driving around trucks, keep in mind the following tips:

1. Stay out of the heavy vehicle blind spots

The blind spot diagram, in yellow shade, shows the blind spots are located:

immediately in front of the truck
beside the truck driver’s door
on the passenger side which runs the length of the truck and extends out three lanes
directly behind the truck.
Blind spot around a truck

Remember: if you cannot see the truck driver’s mirror, the truck driver cannot see you.

2. Travel at a safe following distance

Do not follow a heavy vehicle too closely, as you want to see what is ahead (e.g. debris and other cars). Keep in mind the following when travelling behind a heavy vehicle:

Allow for time to stop safely. The table below shows comparisons of stopping distances for cars and trucks when travelling at the same speeds.